balthazar

You guys are right, of course, but it pains me to even think of cutting up a rare Nomad / Safari. The Nom/Fari B-pillar I can't argue, tho note the regular wagons had (not as much) slanted tailgates, too. I could cut a regular wagon, tho that'd be tough, too. Any sheetmetal 'deficiencies' from the regulars vs. the 'sports' can easily be remedied with sheetmetal, a welder and a good eye.

caddycruiser ~ >>"they belonged to my great great grandparents? I couldn't tell you what's what, however."<< The top runabout is the every-ubitquitous Ford Model T. I'd bet dollars to donuts the touring car is the same- what I can see of it matches up. -- -- -- -- -- My father has owned: '06 (?) Lucerne 4-dr sedan '00 (?) LeSabre 4-dr sedan '89 LeSabre 4-dr sedan '80 Colt '77 Catalina Safari '72 Nova 4-dr sedan (used) '70 Catalina 4-dr sedan '63 Catalina 4-dr hardtop (used) '62 Biscayne 2-dr sedan I have a few poor pics of the '70, a few decent ones of the '77. I kno I've seen a pic of him with the '62, but I don't have it. His Average Model Year Owned is 1979. Mine is 1965. I came home from the hospital in the '63.

I would bet a number of them were done from the 'regular' 2-dr wagons. I know where a '55 Pontiac 2-dr wagon 'el Camino' is/was. I drooled after that car for many long years.

The 'guy who ran a bowling alley' was Durant. Sloan was much too shrewd a businessman to end up broke, but he (along with others) supported Durant for the rest of his life, from their own pockets, in recognition of all he had unceremoniously accomplished. You'd never see something like that done in the last 40 years. -- -- -- -- -- When Durant re-capitalized Buick Motors, Buick got shuffled aside. His work in the engineering department was "unappreciated", and he ended up with an insignificant job in sales. Buick left Buick in 1908. He subsequently lost a great deal of his personal wealth speculating in CA land deals. Buick spent his last 2 years teaching mechanical engineering & drawing in Detroit, not broke, but likewise no longer in possession of the riches he had had, more than once, previous in his lifetime. He died in 1929. -- -- -- -- -- >>"The "in part" qualifier made me think of Louis Chevrolet."<< And that's the answer :: Louis Chevrolet came back to Chevrolet as a "lowly" line mechanic in the '30s, and died relatively broke in 1941. Well remembered, Camino! -- -- -- -- -- The above is yet another example of what I rail against- the vast unrecorded history of GM's past (& inner workings). Why isn't it known exactly when Chevrolet returned to work for GM ? This should be readily-retrievable information- not a 10-yr range of a guess.

I have an illustration of a Celebrity-based El Camino. Same roofline as the ST- but the straight-edged lines look pretty decent...

One automotive pioneer actually worked on the assembly line of the car he (in part) created (well after it was established, and yes; as his then occupation). You know the name; now- who be he.... ?

>>"I could see in olden days maybe having the only outside lock on the passenger's side, when cars had bench seats and people parked at the curb (get in from the sidewalk side, safer than in the street). Maybe a '50s 2dr car or truck?"<< Nice work there, Cubitar !! Saw a letter written in to Old Cars Weekly, where the writer was happy to have read in a previous issue exactly as above ('sliding across bench & exiting curbside'), which explained why his '46 Chevy pick-up was equipped this way. He too then mentioned 'the light going on' when watching movies from the '30s & '40s where people did exactly that. Perhaps you see why I said you 'brushed up against it' to a degree- it's something particular to an era. My '40 Ford Cab Over has locks on both sides, but that's a 2-pass 'bucket' seat truck with a doghouse; not condusive to exiting out the opposite side. Hell- you can barely fit a pair of work boots (on the end of one's own legs) in the respective 'floor pans'. My '57 F-250 had 'em on both sides (a relatively advanced truck). Don't kno when this lock scenario was dropped, but like I said, I was not aware of the practice until I read that the other day.

Back when I was in the Buick GS/GN club, I remember frequent mention of the 700R-4, so it must've been available with a BOP pattern. In fact, it would be quite extrodinary in the era of corporate powertrains, than any trans had restricted availability. 700R-4 can be built to handle over 1000 HP IIRC (as long as you can afford it). Back when I was spec'ing my B-59, I was leaning toward a 700R-4, but was told it was borderline WRT the TRQ. I was steering toward the 4L80-E, but that was a $5K set-up, built. So it'a back to a BOP THM400 ('70 Buick). Calculator says 2500 RPMs at 60- not bad for a 3-spd.

I don't like to be 'pinpointed' by these, since the questions are still too general, IMO. Me : 'You are a center-right moderate social libertarian. Right: 1.54, Libertarian: 1.22' I think I would be farther off center (more right, more libertarian) if the questions were more specific. It's a snapshot.

If a Satty gets beheaded snow-kayaking, will the message baords he frequents notice ??

The vehicle I know for sure that has this is a 2-door, and it's not in any way obscure. Camino- agreed- your list in post #16 I too would call 'special service' vehicles, and while this vehicle could be used as one of those, the feature is OEM. You're getting warmer in post #15. Olds- I like your train of thought, but no. Will give answer tomm evening.

Being in the bidnit, I would LOVE to buy a vintage house, renovate it & resell it. Have not seen a viable candidate, and -being tight- have not really looked. Soon.... Then again, a couple cars stick in my mind that I should grab before they are crushed. One may alrady be: a late '40s Buick converted into a tow truck.

The way things are going, COUNT on it hitting the fan. If I'm wrong- you lose nothing. But if I'm right...

>>"It's something like being falling-down drunk and trying to negotiate your way through a narrow hallway filled with priceless sculpture - that doesn't belong to you."<< I don't think this describes my situation ... My biggest obstacle is, just about everything I want gone is worth something, but the damned economy doesn't have many people buying. I can't bring myself to throw something away that's worth something, even if it's $5. On the other hand, made $101 at the scrap yard Wed. That's the ticket- get junk gone & get paid for it.

>>"You thinking about moving or something?"<< No, just thinking about moving around my own house/ garage/ basement/ shop more easily. >>"The thing about that booklet is... the next page tends to be worse than the previous."<< This the same 'Simplify Your Life' booklet ?? Do you mean clutter and teetering piles of stuff is GOOD for you ???? Hm-mmmm...

I have no specific complaints WRT 2009. I have this nagging shadowy feeling 2010 is going to cost me a lot more than 2009, in an unplanned sort of way, so my determination to make as much as possible is redoubled. I would also like to sell off / toss out a LOT of the flotsam & jetsum I have accumulated; I am logistically paralyzed and I need to simplify. Camino- you have that handy booklet handy (since you did this last year)?

At this point the house calendar is open on the 23rd. I can commit but for 1 exception- if it snows here 2" or more, I have to plow. I would REALLY like to catch a ride from anyone in Jersey or east PA tho. I'll meet you wherever...

I likewise wouldn't cry if there was no Chocolate World stop- Hershey is pretty much available every quarter mile in the U.S.. Give me vintage iron - that's my addiction !!

Ooo, this one is a harder nut than I thought it would be. I found this info out for the first time yesterday, so it's not like it's neccesarily easy. BTW- NO to all of the mentions above. And 'special service vehicle of some sort' is going down the wrong path. If anything, Cubitar has ssoorrtt of brushed up against a pointer, in a way, when he said this : >>"A lot of vehicles today have the exterior lock only the driver's door, quite common in this is era of fob ubiquity."<<

Incorrect, Mr Trap. In fact, Chevys had this feature, also.

I am a random American vehicle, one of many makes. My notable feature for today is: my driver's door features only an interior lock, while my passenger door features only an exterior lock. Why would this be so?

There's a '65 Impy hardtop coupe about 3 miles from my house- just sitting alongside a house garage. Not sure if it's an SS or not, it's pretty solid, may be drivable (I don't take that road often). The '65s have slowly grown on me over the years (from 'meh' to 'nice!'), I don't know why. I'll try and get a pic tomm. -- -- -- -- -- I too got to see the Gast Museum & their Tucker (the only one I've seen). They gave me permission to touch it (but not sit inside). I thought the museum had merely moved- I was talking to one of the Gasts (IIRC) 2 yrs ago at Hershey- he had a beautiful B-59 Electra 225 convert there. Either the guy was a Gast... or the B-59 was an ex-museum car.

>>"Is it right that I'm proud of myself?"<< Right is right! I have to make sure the vehicle in question is in my mind's eye- it's not like I don't have 25,000 pieces of car-related reference les than 10 feet from me....

Wow- Buick actually had mealy-mouthed George do the voice-over, too. I see NO REASON whatsoever that this sort of 'apple cart upturn' shouldn't happen again. F Chevy.

^ Why didn't you let a stranger, someone perhaps who went by the name 'Lefty', give you a hand ?